All Through the House

What lured me in to watch "All Through the House" was the movie cover/poster, as it has a blood-drenched Santa holding a pair of hedge cutters. And knowing that this was going to be a slasher horror, then the movie did seem to have the potential to be a good movie. And given my love for the horror genre, then of course I gave "All Through the House" a chance.

The movie starts out quite alright, and there is action in form of killing right from the very beginning. But that was also just about as exciting and thrilling as this movie would be. The rest of the movie just settled into a monotonous trot and just paced onward in a pace that left no one winded.

There is actually nothing to be seen in "All Through the House" that hasn't already been established, done and seen in other slasher movies, both the established franchises and the stand-alone slasher movies. So you shouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary when you sit down to watch "All Through the House".

As for the acting in the movie, well let's just say that it was fair enough, taking into consideration the genre and the budget of the movie. However, I can say that there was nothing outstanding or memorable to be witnessed throughout the movie.

The effects in "All Through the House" were adequate. But again, not really special effects that left any lasting impression of awe or amazement. But the effects served their purpose well enough.

The killer himself, well he definitely is no next Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers that is for sure. Actually this serial killer is hardly one that you will remember once the movie has come to an end and the end credits start to roll.

There are far better slasher movies available, and this movie might be suitable enough for an off-beat slasher movies during a prolonged slasher movie marathon. Just don't get your hopes up for anything grand or spectacular.

It's movies like this why I love independent horror. The lead actress did such a great job. I usually don't like the female lead in lower budget horror films cause i find the acting can be a bit distracting. Ashley Mary Nunes did an amazing job. If she was playing the lead role in Rob Zombies movies i'd actually be able to sit through one of his films. I sure hope we get to see her in more horror films. This movie deserves an audience. I've never taken the time to write a review on any movie. But I know a film like this needs word of mouth. Everyone involved in this movie deserves this movie to be seen. I think with the right amount of coverage they could get a bigger budget for upcoming films and do something special. I would love it if we got a sequel in the future. Or even something like Evil Dead 2. Evil Dead 2 was more of an updated high budget version of Evil Dead. Ashley would have to be in it of coarse.

"All Through the House," written and directed by Todd Nunes, is a throwback to the 1980s slasher movies and has proved it meets all the objectives of this genre, having netted the Best Slasher award while also being voted the Audience Choice Award at the R.I.P. horror film festival held last year in Los Feliz, Calif.

The movie starts out with a simple premise. During a holiday season in Napa, Calif., a crazed person decked out in a Santa Claus outfit and wearing a hideous mask, is moving house to house and using a pair of hedge shears to slaughter victims who, naturally, are primed to enjoy some yuletide sex. As we all know, in films such as these, frisky people are doomed.

Returning to her hometown of Napa while on a holiday break from college is Rachel Kimmel (Ashley Mary Nunes, Todd's sister). Although her only family here is her wheelchair-bound grandmother Abby (Cathy Garrett), Rachel has made plans to meet up with friends Gia (Natalie Montera) and Sarah (Danica Riner) and go Christmas shopping.

Meanwhile, a neighbor is Mrs Garrett (Melynda Kiring), an ultimate tragic figure. Now living alone, Mrs Garrett has been dealing for 15 years with the mysterious disappearance of her daughter Jamie, reportedly snatched from her bedroom one night. As if this is not enough to merit her great sympathy, she seems a little off her rocker. She has several mannequins inside her home, all dressed up, and uses a couple of them as stand- ins for what used to be her family. Plus, she reenacts a dinner scene with one mannequin posing as her daughter and another as her husband. The scenario she concocts is anything but domestic bliss as she somehow feels compelled to re-experience some dark and rocky moments of her life.

Mrs. Garrett had sent Rachel a card, asking the young woman to stop by and help her finish decorating her house for the holidays. Rachel, too nice to blow this off, decides to recruit Gia and Sarah to help her assist Mrs. Garrett. Thus all the pieces are aligned for the inevitable violence that will explode upon Rachel and her pals. Meanwhile, bits and pieces of information are revealed, adding a few twists as Rachel is thrust into the Final Girl mode.

The Best Slasher nod given to "All Through the House" is well earned. The blood and gore are ample as well as particular acts of horror that will have viewers squirming. Ashley Mary Nunes delivers in the pivotal role as Rachel, the all- around sweet young woman thrown into dire situations. And Kiring nicely paces her performance.

The cover for 'All Through the House' enticed me into seeing it. So did that it was purported to be an 80s throwback and that its idea was a good one. Also appreciate highly all the genres that 'All Through the House' contains and any film that tries to mix them.

Will admit to being a bit nervous as well, having seen my fair shares of failed execution of good ideas, some mediocre at best to terrible films lately and whether it would be as cheap as low-budget films tend to be. What a pleasant surprise 'All Through the House' turned out to be! It is not perfect or amazing, and it doesn't completely meet the quality of its concept. Still found it to be above average and it was a relief that the concept wasn't wasted.

'All Through the House' could have been better certainly. The killer is suitably creepy and there is effort to give him development (which is appreciated, too many films recently have failed to do that with their villains) but definitely could have been in the film more, he was underused. Some of the story is predictable and not always tight in pace, particularly in the middle.

The reveal didn't have me jumping out of my chair in shock or excitement and some of the dialogue is cheesy as sin (not a strong suit with the 80s horror films it throws back to admittedly but still). Occasionally, the film takes it too far with the vulgarity which doesn't always add an awful lot.

On the other hand, 'All Through the House's' look is surprisingly more polished than most low-budget films seen recently. There is a real dark eeriness to the film's look, and the killer's is cool and suitably creepy. The special effects serve their purpose well, not over-used and far less amateurish than feared. The music score is haunting and suspenseful, without over-bearing the atmosphere or making it too obvious something bad is going to happen.

Great the dialogue is far from, but it does boast some thought and some sharp and darkly funny satirical/black humour elements in a very 80s genre film way. The story isn't perfect either, but mostly it's very effectively atmospheric in tension, suspense and nightmarish eeriness, far from dull, intriguing and with some very brutally inventive kills. The direction shows confidence.

Regarding the acting, it is fair. Not exceptional, but not terrible. Ashley Mary Nunes is surprisingly agreeable in the lead role and hair-raising Melynda Kiring is the cast standout. The characters don't at least irritate.

In summary, not bad...not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE starts off with a short buildup, followed by blood-gushing, bodily dismemberment.

Yep, it's that time of year again!

It appears that once more, some lunatic has dressed up like Old Saint Nick, in order to spread good cheer with his shears, relieving the citizenry of their boring lives! This Yuletide season, Santa's come to town to punish the naughty AND the nice!

Unlike most of these Christmas-based slasher films, this one has a real mystery going on. It's also gory enough to get the gorehounds howling!

AMAZING STUFF IN THIS MOVIE: #1- Multiple -male- Yule logs are lopped off! #2- A woman in a wheelchair takes flight, just like Rudolph! #3- It features more mannequins than in any department store! #4- there's an actual attempt at having a story line! #5- The bonkers finale is well-orchestrated mayhem!

This belongs in every entrails-filled stocking this year...